


Baby Steps

by Lumelle



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Babysitting, Fluff, M/M, Plans For The Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 06:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13518780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: Stuck with looking after his baby niece, Sanada fully expected his date night to be called off. Instead Atobe takes a great interest in little Aimi-chan, and corrects a few of Sanada's misconceptions.Regardless, Atobe will always be Atobe.





	Baby Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Born from a random thought of "but what if Atobe actually likes babies?"

“You don’t have to stay, you know.” Sanada couldn’t help but feel a bit wary as he watched Atobe engage in a staring contest with a baby. “I’m sorry our date has to be delayed, I really am, but you don’t need to keep me company.”

“Nonsense.” Atobe still didn’t take his eyes off the baby. She stared back with the intensity of a child, looking decidedly unimpressed. “If we can’t have a date, I can at least spend time with you. And your niece, obviously.”

“I still can’t focus on you.” And goodness knew how Atobe enjoyed attention. “She’s my responsibility, so she’s my priority.”

“Of course. It’d take a very irresponsible person to neglect a baby, and I know you are nothing if not responsible.” Apparently Atobe had decided simple staring was not enough, as he reached out a finger for the baby to grasp. “Hi there. You’re the cute one in the family, aren’t you?”

“Gah,” agreed Sanada Aimi, gripping Atobe’s fingertip. “Angh!”

“And an excellent conversationalist, too, I see.” Atobe smirked, looking oddly happy. Not that it was odd for Atobe to look happy, as such, but Sanada generally associated that smirk with things such as tennis and luxurious treats, not children too young to do much more than crawl and drool.

“Don’t blame me if you get baby drool on your designer clothes.” Especially since Atobe was now picking her up, of all things.

“I’m capable of deciding what risks to take with my clothing, thanks.” Atobe seemed slightly awkward holding her at first, but shooed Sanada away as he got closer to help. “No, I’ll figure it out. Unless there’s something specific I need to know?”

“Well, she’s old enough to hold her head up, so as long as you don’t drop her or make her cry, it’s probably fine.” And he was going to try not to insult Atobe by rushing forward to catch the baby as Atobe stood up with her in his arms.

“She’s really quite small, isn’t she?” Aimi-chan was actually smiling as Atobe poked at her nose, which was something of an achievement. She didn’t often take to new people well, though at least she was more given to grumpy glares than tears. Sanada supposed it wasn’t too bad an attitude for a kid.

“She’s already grown a lot.” Sanada certainly remembered how tiny she had been when he’d first seen her. He’d been pretty young himself back when Sasuke was born, so he hadn’t been able to truly appreciate the scale of a newborn then, but now he was more or less fully grown and Aimi-chan had fit easily into the crook of one of his arms.

“Well, that’s her job, isn’t it?” Atobe chuckled, bouncing the baby on his arm a little. “To grow up big and strong. That’s what Sanadas do, right?”

“I would hope she doesn’t grow up too much.” Sanada stepped closer, nudging Atobe’s shoulder with his. They’d been close in height back in middle school, but now Sanada towered over Atobe by a head’s worth.

“Nonsense. Aimi-chan can grow up tall and strong if she wants to. Don’t you let anyone tell you what a girl can’t or can’t be, ahn?” Atobe bounced her again, making her giggle. “Right! That’s a princess if I ever saw one!”

“I’m not sure if you’re going to be a good or bad influence on her.”

“What are you saying? I’m going to be the greatest influence anyone could hope for.” Atobe grinned. “Think your brother and his wife will mind if I buy her some pretty dresses?”

“Normally I would say it’s fine, but knowing you, you’d go way overboard.” Sanada snorted. “You’d have to ask them. Just be warned, they probably won’t think they need charity from Atobe Keigo.”

“It wouldn’t be charity.” Atobe frowned. “They’re your family. Is it really bad to get gifts for my boyfriend’s family?”

“As I said, you tend to go overboard, and a lot of people aren’t comfortable with that.” Sanada shook his head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine if you get her a gift for her birthday. One gift,” he repeated, seeing the gleam in Atobe’s eyes. “And I’m going to check it first.”

“Honestly. You make it sound like I have no concept of moderation.”

“It’s good to know you have some self-awareness at least.” Sanada smirked as Atobe threw him a glare. “Come on. Not even you could possibly think that what you do is in any way ordinary.”

“Of course not. I’m an extraordinary man.” Atobe grinned, now. “And Aimi-chan is an extraordinary girl. Aren’t you? Yes you are!”

“I’m not sure she’s old enough to be extraordinary in any way.” Of course she was adorable, and the best baby ever, but Sanada was obviously biased. “You know, I never expected you to like babies.”

“I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to test my feelings on that.” Atobe chuckled. “I like this one, at least.”

“Well, she seems to like you as well.” Aimi-chan giggled as though agreeing. “And now I’m wondering if I might be the one left without attention.”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? She’s the first priority.” Atobe certainly seemed to think so. “Just a small thing, but full of potential. One day, she’s going to be something brilliant.”

Sanada half expected Atobe’s attention to fade as the novelty of the situation did, but that didn’t happen. Atobe spent most of the evening playing with Aimi-chan, speaking as much to her as he did to Sanada. He didn’t back away even when Aimi-chan decided to gift them with a filthy diaper. Atobe scrunched up his face, but he did insist on changing her himself. Sanada suspected things would have gone much easier if he’d done it rather than guiding Atobe through the stinky process, but Atobe was adamant.

“How could I shove her off now just because things get less pleasant all of a sudden? I couldn’t let her think I don’t like her just because she had to poo.”

“I don’t think she’s analyzing things that closely just yet.” Still, Sanada couldn’t help but smile. “Should have known that once you set your mind on something, you’re not going to back away.”

“Really, this shouldn’t be a surprise to you.” Atobe finished dressing up the baby, then picked her up and kissed her forehead. “There, all done!”

“Honestly, I’ll soon start wondering if you’re planning on stealing her.” Sanada made a show of frowning. “Do I need to point out that I’ll be duty-bound to stop you if you try?”

“Hmm, tempting. Then I could buy her all the dresses I want. But I suppose I wouldn’t want to fight you over such a thing.” Atobe chuckled. “I’ll just have to come over more often to get some babysitting time.”

“Not to say I protest at that.” Sanada leaned in to kiss Atobe’s cheek. “You’ll make me jealous.”

“Not that I generally protest at you getting a bit possessive, but I can assure you, there’s no competition here.” Atobe toyed with Aimi-chan’s hand. “For one thing, she’s much cuter than you.”

For all that Atobe was clearly enamored, he was rather amicable about returning Aimi-chan to her parents once they got back from their date. Good. Sanada wouldn’t have wanted to actually fight him. There were some jabs about how Atobe should not keep Sanada up too late, ones that Sanada waved off. They were old enough to know what they were doing, thanks. It wasn’t like it would be the first time Atobe stayed over, and Sanada’s parents had never had a problem with it.

Sanada pulled Atobe down to the couch, drawing him into a kiss. “Sorry we didn’t get our date.”

“We can have other dates.” Atobe leaned his head on Sanada’s shoulder, making himself comfortable. “Besides, the night isn’t over.”

“I suppose not.” Which meant he’d really rather take Atobe to his bedroom from the family living room, but for a moment’s silence, this was fine too.

“Naa, Sanada?”

“Yes?” One never really knew what to expect when Atobe took that tone.

“I want a baby.” Case in point.

“Hn.” Sanada reached an arm around Atobe’s shoulders. “You’re not allowed to steal my niece.”

“Obviously not.” Atobe snorted. “I don’t want her, anyway. Not that there’s anything wrong with her, I think I’ve made it very clear that I think she’s adorable, but I’d rather prefer a baby of my own.”

“Aside from the obvious logistical problems, don’t you think that’s a bit early?” Sanada couldn’t believe Atobe was saying such nonsense. “We’re still in high school. I can think of only one circumstance where people might end up being parents at this stage, and that’s not exactly relevant for us.”

“Damn, and here I was hoping a strapping young man such as yourself could get me pregnant. I mean, isn’t that what we’ve been practising for?”

“Atobe!” Sanada couldn’t help his scandalized outburst. “That’s — stop that!”

“Oh, don’t look so panicked.” Atobe rolled his eyes. “Besides, I didn’t mean right away. I want to go to university, and obviously I want to continue playing tennis. Just. Once there’s less going on, I want a baby. Maybe more than one, in time.”

“Right.” Sanada frowned, still. “If you’re not planning on it for years still, why are you bringing it up now, though?” In his experience, Atobe saying he wanted something generally meant he planned on getting that something as soon as possible.

“Uh. For the same reason I’ve told you about all my other plans? You’re the one who keeps telling me I can’t just decide things for us both without consulting you first.” Atobe nudged him with an elbow.

“Wait.” That… that didn’t seem right. “You mean… you want a baby together with me?” Sanada wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he was fairly sure it wasn’t unpleasant, at least.

“Well, obviously.” Why would Atobe sound so very exasperated? “What did you expect? Did you think I’m just playing around with you and plan to abandon you the moment I find a suitable little trophy wife to keep up appearances?” At Sanada’s lack of answer, Atobe gasped. “…Oh my god. You actually thought that.”

“It’s not an unreasonable assumption.” Sanada dropped his gaze, not quite ready to meet Atobe’s questioning gaze. “Your father is not exactly an insignificant person, and you are his only heir. Sooner or later you’ll have to step up and take over the company, and then bring it to the next generation.”

“Hm. Maybe once I’m tired of tennis, but no sooner. My father is hardly in the grave yet, and even if he wanted to retire he’s perfectly capable of finding people to manage the company in his place. And as for the next generation, I just said I want children.” Atobe nuzzled closer to him. “Children that I plan to raise with you and nobody else, just so we are clear.”

“…People won’t approve.” And yet, Sanada couldn’t say he disliked the idea.

“When have I ever given a damn about whether people approve of my actions or not?” Well. That was a good point, actually. “It’s the 21st century. If someone can’t handle the idea of a gay man having a family without pretending to be straight, that’s not on me.”

“It’s still not going to be easy. Certainly not in Japan.” Even if Sanada’s own family had been surprisingly accepting about his relationship with Atobe, he knew all too well the society at large could still be rather less open-minded.

“Is that a problem?” Atobe shifted so he could look Sanada directly in the eye. “It’s not one for me. As I said, I don’t care what some old-fashioned fools think about me. But if you don’t want to deal with all that… well. I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Stop that nonsense.” Sanada tangled a hand in Atobe’s hair, combing through the soft locks. “I’m going to stick with you as long as you’ll have me. If that means I get to raise children and grow old with you… well.” He leaned in to kiss Atobe. “Nothing would make me happier.”

“Good.” Atobe smiled into the kiss. “Now, let’s get to your room so you can show me exactly happy that thought makes you.”

And, well, Atobe had certainly earned his attention by now.


End file.
